The Greatest of All Human Blessings
by Channey
Summary: Follow a story of a young woman, Cassandra Foley, joining our favourite TV show of all time. LOST. Explore her point of view of this famous story, fall in love and cry with her. Rated T because I'm paranoid :) The author is planning to update whenever she has time to do so. Please, be patient.
1. Teaser

Death is everywhere. Nearly two humans are gone every single second. Now. Now. And now. Sometimes death is a peaceful end of your journey. The soul slips into the reaper's arms who quietly leads it away, to a perhaps better world. Sometimes death is an accident and it doesn't matter if you are or are not innocent. You just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. But sometimes death is meant to be. You often meet your fate on the road you take to avoid it and yet it found its way back to you. Do you know why? Because sometimes your actions are a seed of fate. And this seed grows into your destiny.

„ _Death may be the greatest of all human blessings."_

Socrates


	2. Pilot (Part 1)

**Hello everybody! I'm very happy to present you the first chapter of this story. I tried to leave Cassandra to your fantasy a little bit so you can decide how will she look like. Also, please excuse if there are mistakes in the story, English is my second language and this is a great way to improve. I'm doing my best!**  
 **Also, I'd love to actually change a few things throughout the show in my story because I added a new character and it wouldn't work if I left it all the way it was before - it makes sense to me!**  
 **Don't be afraid to post reviews, I don't bite and I really want to know what YOU think about this story. :)**  
 **And now? Let's begin!**

* * *

 _could feel the darkness around me, slowly consuming every single part of my trapped body. I tried to move my fingers, my feet, but the dark mist didn't let me. I was its prisoner. I opened my mouth, trying to say something, anything that could help me call someone for help, but not even a little sound escaped my lips. Just a mute scream could be heard inside my mind. Panic was silently taking control of me. I was fighting with the great nothing surrounding the world around me. I wanted to get away, away from the black smoke, away from the invisible cage I was in. I looked down, watching as the panic crawled up my legs, my arms to my neck and head. I couldn't catch my breath, my heart was racing and nothing helped me to calm down. It seemed like my lungs were gone, that my heart stopped but my body refused to die. My brain was screaming for some needed oxygen, my eyes were opened widely. I was frightened. I knew I was lost in a place where I would be lost forever and I knew there was no one who could save me. I was without light, without hope. I was dying alone. And then everything disappeared._

I knew something has happened, something awful and horrible but I couldn't really tell what. Not yet. High – pitched sound was ringing in my ears, I couldn't even hear my own thoughts and when I moved, even the slightest movement caused strong pain to shot through the right side of my forehead. I tried to look around, my view being incredibly blurry. I looked down – it was up, but I thought it's down, remembering the man who was holding my hand. Or did I hold his?

„Mist- mister, are you okay?" I whispered, but he didn't respond. I touched his face, shaking with his body to wake him up, but he didn't move, didn't breathe. Then I noticed that his head and neck and grey shirt, actually absolutely everything, was completely soaked in dark red liquid. Blood.

Panic definitely took control over my body. I tried to unfasten my seat belt but it was stuck, I tried to scream for help, but no one came. I couldn't get myself out of there.

„Help me! Somebody, please!" My world was spinning, it was upside down. I screamed for my life, I screamed for someone to help me out of this hell. Streams of tears were filling my eyes but they never went down my face, instead they travelled up into my hair. I stopped when I couldn't scream anymore, I just silently cried.

„Try to unfasten your seat belt." Said unknown voice with a strong middle east accent. I looked up, but through the tears and smoke, I couldn't see the man who was helping me.

„I- It's not working. It's stuck."

„Let me help you." He said again, climbing up, leaning over the dead body by my side and trying to help me out of my seat. I had no idea how, but he did it, he saved me. I fell on him and finally realized the whole plane was upside down. He helped me to stand up carefully. The plane was on its side and with the massive headache and smoke and everything was hard to walk. He was right behind me, supporting and catching me whenever it looked like I was going to fall on my face. Everything hurt, legs and arms were trembling and I was scared to death. A bright light was stabbing my eyes and I had to close them for a moment. When I opened them again, I saw where we were – in a ripped half of our plane, the other half nowhere to see. With the man's help, I got down the wreckage. Then I saw it. Complete chaos, frightened people everywhere I looked, screaming for their friends or family members, for help or just because they were in shock. I heard one of those airplane huge motors still going; it was like a terrible music composed by a crazy plane crash composer. The guy was helping me to sit down in the sand when the still working engine blew up. At that moment I had no idea what happened, I just found myself pinned down with another body covering mine. A strong arm was wrapped around my back as the man tried to protect me. This was the second time he saved me and I didn't even know his name.

„Are you alright?" I asked when I looked up at him, slowly getting myself from the ground.

„Yes, I am. Are you?" He was scanning me with his eyes, looking for scratches or injuries, but except my head, I felt like I was alright.

"I think so."

"Are you sure?" He made me look at my legs and arms and finally touch my forehead. Warm sticky blood was left on my fingers when I looked down.

„Let me find something to stop the bleeding." He said and stood up. We both heard someone screaming, his head shot it the direction of the sound and back at me. I had no idea how could I help, how could I save lives the way he saved mine. I was useless and he knew it. He looked into my eyes with one simple question. Are you really okay?

„Go, I'll look for it." He stayed with me for another moment, making sure I'll be alright, before heading to the probably injured human and leaving me behind his back.

„Wait! What's your name?!" I shouted at him and he turned, facing me.

„Sayid, yours?"

„Cassandra,"

I slowly got myself up and with an extreme headache, I looked around. I needed a suitcase or a bag, inside that thing could have been a shirt or something to help me stop the bleeding. I saw a huge guy with a pregnant girl and not too far from there was a big sports bag. Maybe I could find what I need in there, so I started to move in that direction.

„Dude! You're bleeding!" The big, really big guy was staring at me and the blond pregnant girl too.

„Yes, I know, thank you." Maybe it wasn't loud enough for him to hear me, but I didn't care. I just needed something. The bag wasn't mine, and I had absolutely no idea whose it was, but it had a great blue shirt in it I could use. I carefully fold it and pressed it against my forehead. It hurt badly. I noticed a man, running for his life to those two not so far from me.

„Move! Move! Move! Get her out of there!" I looked up. A wing was going down, right on those two. And me. I started to run as fast as I only could, trying to get away, to save my life. And then the second explosion came. The power of it threw me in the sand like a simple little object, as if I weigh nothing. My body greeted the sand again, hitting the ground pretty badly. It was like if someone decided to kill me with an axe or something, it hurt terribly. My heart was beating too loudly, and the sun was too bright. I felt myself slipping away into sweet nonexistence once again, drowning in the sea of brightness but I didn't let it win. Not this time. Not now.

The hell, the screaming and running around finally ended. People started to calm down, slowly realizing their situation. I did, too. I was sitting on a log, staring onto the never-ending horizon, wondering if there was someone who's looking for us. I had some kind of faith inside of me keeping me sane. I hoped that, sooner or later, a plane or a ship would turn up, taking us back to civilization. On the other hand, something inside was telling me otherwise. That we weren't going to be saved, that we were going to die here. But when something like this happens, your natural response is keeping your faith. And that's what we all did.

With the sun going down, people started to work. They were going through luggage, the big guy named Hurley, as I learned sooner that day, organized food. Sayid, who saved my life twice, was probably the only one who knew what to do, who kept his head somewhat cool. He got wood for a fire, building it bigger and bigger so someone would see it in case a ship sailed by. And me? I was useless as always but decided to change that. I headed to the forest, picking up smaller logs and sticks.

„Hello!" A blonde man smiled at me with his hands full of firewood. His accent was English and for some reason, he seemed to be very familiar to me. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks.

„No way!" I exclaimed, a huge smile of sudden happiness appearing on my pitiful face, „you're Charlie freaking Pace!"

„That's me! Yeah! You know my band!ׅ" Oh, how happy he looked! He dropped the sticks, coming closer to me.

„Of course I do! You guys were great!"

„We ARE great! And what's your name anyway?" He chuckled, his fingers trembling with excitement.

„I'm Cassandra, you have no idea how pleased I am to meet you!"

„Guys?" Our heads shot to the voice's direction, noticing Sayid with eyes full of questions.

„This is Charlie Pace, from Drive Shaft! You know them?" Nope, his expression said it all.

„No, I don't. We need the wood, the fire is dying. Are you two coming?" We both nodded, picking up all those pieces we forgot about a minute back and headed back to the beach. Along the way, we talked about the band and we happily sang the chorus to We All Everybody.

The night set up early that day, or maybe it was because I just didn't know what time it was. Sayid and Charlie were sitting by the signal fire, me with them. I knew their names, everybody else was still strangers to me. I knew there was a doctor named Jack and it was the man who saved the big guy Hurley with the pregnant girl before but that was it. I haven't talked to them yet. We all were most of the time silent and still in shock.

„You think they would have come by now," My head turned left to Sayid who broke the silence surrounding us.

„Huh? Who?"

„Anyone."

„Maybe they just have troubles locating us?" They both looked at me, nodding and then turning back to the fire.

He was right. I definitely thought they would have come by that time. It was dark already; people were tired and hurt and were supposed to sleep after all that happened that day, yet no one was really getting to it. I gently leaned my chin on my knees, closing my eyes but when I did so, I immediately saw the burning wreckage, blood everywhere, I heard screaming people. I sat back up and took a deep breath.

„Are you guys hungry?" It was Hurley who asked us, with a tray full of plane food. He didn't really wait for an answer, he just handed all three of us a small plastic boxes that were actually warm a little bit.

„Thank you, you're kind." I slightly smiled at him.

„No problem." And with those words he left and continued in his dinner serving.

We ate quietly, occasionally glaring into flames warming our bodies. I had a blanket thrown over my shoulders, Charlie brought me one when it started to get cold but I was still kind of cold.

Do you know that Murphy's law that says: If it can go wrong, it will go wrong? Well, this was the case. Obviously, people weren't allowed to calm themselves down yet, or maybe they were just too calm so nature said – HEY! WE COULD MESS THIS MESS UP A BIT MORE! – and so it did.

A very, very loud noise interrupted everyone and everything. Trees were falling down as invisible force pushed them from its way. Strange clicking could be heard and it made everyone gather in front of the entrance to the forest. No one had enough courage to run and find out what the hell was that.

The three of us, Sayid, Charlie and me stood up, running to the group, getting in front and staring at the scene, moving their heads whenever it changed direction. Jack with a woman joined us in the front. Nobody said a single word until silence finally took over and the noise disappeared.

„Terrific..."

I stayed up, watching the fire, occasionally adding more wood. I couldn't sleep, my brain kept overthinking. It was as if there was a video on repeat. Whenever I closed my eyes, I saw it again. And again and I couldn't stop it. The dark blue sky got lighter in the east as the morning was closer.

„You should get some rest, Cassie," For the first time someone actually said my name. Sayid was up, looking at me.

„It's okay, I'm not tired." I tried to smile at him, trying to convince him I really, really wasn't tired. The reality was different though.

„Sleep, I'll protect you if anything happens. Trust me." His eyes were telling the truth and for some reason, I believed him. He saved my life twice, I had to believe him. So I sighed a little, nodding and laid down. The strange feeling of being safe filled my mind and the exhaustion finally let me sleep.

xxx

„Good afternoon. Are you travelling with a guardian or alone?" An assistant behind a checking desk looked at me and I frowned.

„What?"

„Are you travelling with a guardian or alone?" The man repeated again, this time more slowly.

„I'm twenty." His confusion was obvious as he said sorry at least one hundred times.

„It's alright, no worries. It happens." I smiled at him, handing him my passport with tickets inside.

„Miss Foley, I'm afraid we can't get you on that particular plane. The gate is closing in two minutes."

My calmness immediately disappeared, was I really this late? My legs decided to turn into a jelly.

„Please, I must get on that plane."

„I'm sorry, we can't-"

„Please! I'm begging you, I must leave NOW." Yes, I started to cry if anyone is wondering. There was this lump in my throat, panic building up and holding my lungs so I could barely breathe. The man, Stephen - as I read from his little name clip – picked up the phone and dialled a number.

„Hello Helen, this is Stephen. I have one more passenger to flight 815 here at check-in. Can I send her there? Will you hold it for a few minutes? Alright, thank you." He ended the call, lifted his eyes as he finally took the passport lying on the counter and checked it.

„Have a pleasant journey, miss. And hurry." I was delighted, almost wanted to hug him. I took my small suitcase, running down the hall through safety control and then to my gate. Soon I was finally seated and the plane was heading to the runway. I looked from the small plane window. I was leaving everything behind. My apartment, my dog, my past. Everything. And I definitely didn't regret it. I was finally free. Finally independent. Finally happy.

xxx

Waves. The sea scent. Warm morning sun. I opened my eyes. So it wasn't a dream. Everything that happened, happened for real. I slowly sat up, finding myself in the same place I fell asleep last night, with Sayid still sitting by my side, staring into nowhere.

„Thank you." Was the first thing I said to him and he warmly smiled at me.

„There's no need to thank me."

A group formed not too far away from us and we both decided to join. I stood up, checking if my shirt was still good to go and then headed to them.

„...any sunblock?" I heard Charlie as I came closer and found my place next to my new friend and saviour.

„Yeah, I do." A blonde girl replied, digging some inside her bag. Hurley also joined us.

„So... I was just looking inside the fuselage. It's pretty grim in there. You think we should do something about the..." He glanced at the youngest survivor playing with sand, „...B-O-D-Y-S?"

I frowned. We all frowned.

„What are you spellin', man? "Bodies"?"

„B-O-D-I-E-S." The kid said. What a smartass!

„That sounds like a good idea."

„No! They'll deal with it when they get here."

„What if they don't?" I whispered. The father of the kid and Sayid looked at me but said nothing. The doctor arrived right after.

„I'm gonna get out and look for the cockpit. See if we can find a transceiver to send a distress signal. Help the rescue team. You need to keep an eye on the wounded. If the guy in the suit wakes up, try to keep him calm but don't let him remove that shrapnel. Understand?" He said to us and especially to the blue-eyed boy.

„Yeah, got it. What about the guy with the leg? The tourniquet...?"

„I stopped the bleeding. I took it off last night. He should be alright."

„Yeah, cool. Good job."

„I'll come with," Charlie stood up, „I wanna help."

„I don't need any more help."

„No it's cool, I don't really feel like standing still, so..." Jack didn't really look happy, but then nodded slightly.

„Excellent."

The doctor then turned to me, noticing my head. It stopped bleeding yesterday and it didn't really hurt as much as it did but he was still suspicious.

„Can you come see me before we leave? I just wanna check if your head is okay."

„Surely," I said, standing up, brushing sand off my denim overall and followed Jack back to where his medical stuff was.

„I'm sorry I haven't talked to you yet."

„It's alright, really. You have much more important things to do than fix someone's more less okay head." He chuckled, gently lifting my chin up so he could see better the wound on my forehead.

„It's not deep but you're still gonna have a scar." He said quietly, examining it.

„Cool, scars are badass, right?" A chuckle escaped his lips one more time before stepping away to get peroxide to clean it a little bit.

„I'm Jack by the way. I don't think we've introduced before." He pressed a clean cloth against my forehead, making me hiss.

„Cassandra, nice to meet you." After that and a little small talk about if anything changes I must go immediately to him, he, Charlie and a woman left to look for the cockpit. I returned back to the little group, although now it was just the pregnant lady sitting by herself, smiling brightly down at her baby bump.

„I'm Claire!" The pregnant girl, Claire, introduced herself with an Australian accent.

„I'm Cass, hello." I smiled at her, sitting down.

„So, uhm...you're here with someone?"

„Alone. What about you?" I smiled at her, shielding my eyes from the sun.

„No. Just this." She grinned, patting her stomach gently. We both giggled and our kind of silly conversation started. We talked about places we wanted to visit and things we want to do when we get old. It was nice, kind of relaxing and as time passed by, we started to become friends. She was just simply lovely.

From all sudden, rain came and storm formed up above the horizon. Claire immediately ran to find herself a shelter but I stayed a little longer. I used to love rain, the smell especially, but this was different. It was if someone up in the sky decided to pour a whole pool of cold water down on us. In not even a second I was completely soaked wet and finally decided to look for a place to stay in. I ran around the beach, everywhere I went people were like sardines and a Korean guy basically told me to get out. So I stood there in the rain by myself. I noticed an old man sitting by himself too but very much enjoying the rain.

The noises came. Trees were falling. Awful realization found its way into my brain. „Aren't Jack and Charlie out there?" But no one answered. We all just watched, after a few seconds, people started to go back into their shelters. I stayed. Or at least I wanted to. Someone pulled my hand and basically dragged me under a piece of our plane nearby.

„I thought you'd like to hide." A familiar face was smiling at me, water dripping off his face. This man was almost a hero in my eyes even though I barely knew him. But he saved me. Twice.

„Thank you again."

We were sitting under that plane part, quietly watched the ocean and dark sky. I was shivering, hugging my legs and trying to keep myself warm. He pulled me closer so our sides were touching. It wasn't anything romantic or something, I felt as if I was with my brother who made sure I was feeling alright and although I didn't know if he felt the same way, I was very comfortable with him. I trusted him more than anyone on that island; he became my best friend the minute he got me out of the stuck seat. And I was forever grateful.


	3. Pilot (Part 2)

**It didn't take me long to write this as there's A LOT OF PEOPLE TALKING but I was trying to fix it somehow. Didn't really help tho. Man, I suck at conversations in real life and Cassie, to my surprise, sucks too. Oh well. So I'm very sorry if this chapter is just simply weird but know that I did my best!**  
 **I really appreciate you reading this story and I only hope you'll stay tuned for more upcoming chapters. One more time, I'm sorry this chapter is so bad. I'm having a hard time lately.**

* * *

 **PILOT (PART 2)**

I was sitting right next to Claire; we were watching the ocean together, lying in the sun, chatting occasionally. The Blondie was lying nearby, sunbathing. She didn't pay attention; actually, I thought she was napping until the blue-eyed boy showed up.  
„Hey, we're going through some clothes, sorting them. I see you found your bag..." Me and Claire, we both watched them and I had to wonder if these two were a couple or not. They seemed to know, at least that's what it looked like.  
„Come on, you wanna give us a hand?"  
„Not really. You're wasting your time, they're coming." He turned around, giving up.  
„Is that your boyfriend?" Claire asked, stealing the question of my mind.  
„My brother, Boone. God's friggin' gift to humanity." I chuckled and Claire did too, taking one of her tank tops off.  
„What is your name?" I asked, biting my lip.  
„Shannon. What's yours?"  
„Cass." The whole introducing to everyone thing was getting weird. I felt like I was in middle school once again, being the new kid, trying to remember all those names and faces.  
„I used to have a stomach..." I was grinning, watching Claire's tummy, feeling a little bit strange. I turned my head back to Shannon, jealous of the body she owned. I knew it was silly, especially in our conditions, but I couldn't help myself. Sometimes you feel something and you don't know why. And since I was a kid, my demons were always with me, everywhere I went making me feel bad for not being good enough, for not being who I wanted to be. Although I wasn't sure who I wanted to be.  
„Do you know what it is?"  
„Not yet. I haven't felt the baby move since yesterday." I rubbed Claire's back, trying to reassure her it was going to be alright.  
„I'm sure it's just tired and sleeps. We're all tired too."  
Yelling cut out our small chatting session. I jumped on my feet, hurrying to the sounds of the struggle. There was a crowd surrounding those two, I pushed through up in the front. Sayid and the other guy, the one everyone seemed to hate, were in the middle of a fist fight. Michael, the father of the young boy, tried to calm them down but it didn't really help. Me and Jack ran to them, the doctor grabbing the other man, trying to break the fight but they still held on to each other, so I tried to get in between them.  
„Hey! Break it up! Break it up! Get off!" Jack yelled as we tried to get them away from each other. Michael helped, too.  
Words and curses were flying by as the three of us tried so hard to actually stop their fight. Finally Sayid let go of the other guy's pants.  
„I'm sick of this redneck!" My hands were pressed against his chest, stopping him from going back to the annoying guy.  
„Want some more?" I actually wanted to punch him for being such an idiot but I still had time to do so later.  
„Tell everyone what you told me! Tell them I made the plane crash! Go on, tell them!"  
„The shoe fits!"  
„Stop this you idiots!" I yelled at them.  
„What's going on?!"  
„My kid found these in the jungle." Michael handed handcuffs to the doctor and I just stared. What the hell was going on? I looked at Sayid, very confused.  
„This guy was in the back row of business class the whole flight. Never got up. Hands folded underneath the blanket. And for some reason, just pointing this out, the guy next to him didn't make it."  
„Thank you so much for observing."  
„Don't think I saw them pull you out of line before we boarded?!" And then it started again. Jack hugged the other one. I wrapped my arms around Sayid's waist, using my whole weight to stop him. Thanks god Michael helped, I wouldn't be able to hold him by myself.  
„Come on! Bring it!"  
„Shut up, both of you!" Once again I raised my voice, this time much more and they finally stopped.  
„We found the transceiver, but it's not working. Can anybody help?" The woman who was Jack's friend said, looking around at the crowd. Nobody said a word.  
„ Yes, I might be able to." Sayid's voice broke the silence and the other one got pissed again.  
„Oh great! Perfect! Let's trust this guy!"  
„Hey! We're all in this together. Treat each other with a little respect." Hurley was right. We all knew it. But the pissed guy didn't.  
„Shut up, Lardo."  
„Hey! Give it a break." Jack was handling this situation very well, he started to be the chief in my eyes. And I was sure I wasn't the only one.  
„Whatever you say, doc, you're the hero."  
„You guys found the cockpit?" Boone, the boy who was Shannon's brother, asked. Jack nodded.  
„Any survivors?"  
„No." I sighed. The pilot was probably the only one who knew what happened and now all his knowledge was gone. I moved closer to Jack's friend and Sayid who was inspecting the transceiver thing.  
„It's a dual-band. Military spec. Chances are the battery is good, but the radio is dead." He knew stuff, something about the middle east man was a little bit strange. My brain wanted answers.  
„Can you fix it?" The woman asked.  
„I need some time." And he left. I figured out he wanted to be alone and I didn't blame him.  
„Doctor, the man with the shrapnel, I think you should take a look at him." The crowd was slowly leaving the circle, going back to whatever they were doing before the struggle started. People had work to do, sorting clothes and bags and everything, building their shelters and gathering wood for fires. I was useless one more time. With a sigh, I decided to at least try to look for my luggage. I walked the beach, checked different places but wasn't very lucky. My suitcase was nowhere to find but I found my backpack! There was a book inside, The Godfather, a bottle of water and my precious – my iPod - and to my surprise, it was still working. Sunglasses and a small tube of sunscreen were also in there. My hoodie too. How lucky was I for this to happen? No one touched it. The colour was a little bit off but besides that, the bag was in perfect state. I was very happy to come across such a treasure.

I was sitting on the beach with my backpack sitting safely between my legs, silently listening to other people's conversations. Sure, I knew it wasn't near being polite but I couldn't help myself. Sometimes you hear good things, good points and valuable information. As I did this time.  
„Is it working?" I heard the woman, Jack's friend, ask.  
„It seems to be, except we're not picking up a signal." I turned my head, noticing those two, Sayid and the girl, talking.  
„Aren't we trying to send one?"  
„Yes, but what you want to see here is little bars. The bars show it's getting reception."  
„We need the bars."  
„We could broadcast blind, hope that someone, maybe a ship somewhere picks up our distress call. But that could be a waste of the battery, which might not last for long. There is one thing we could try."  
„What?"  
„Get the signal from high ground."  
„How high?" At this point I dragged myself closer, very much curious.  
„Can I join?" I asked as soon I reached them. Sayid smiled at me.  
„Of course. We're going on a hike, up there." He pointed at the highest point of the Island.  
„When are we leaving?"  
„As soon as possible."

We were on our way from the beach when a voice stopped us.  
„I'd like to come with you." It was Shannon, Boone right behind her.  
„She's not going." Sayid with Kate exchanged a look.  
I got a little bit lost in their fight, my eyes were shooting from one person to another, trying to figure out what was that about. I bit my lip.  
„She makes really bad decisions to upset her family which at the moment is me."  
„Shut up and stop trying to be charming. I'm coming with you." Sayid looked... oh well, really interested in that scene.  
„I don't know if that's a good idea." Kate said, also very interested.  
„What are you? Two years older than me? And she? She's probably even younger than I am. Please." They all looked at me making my cheeks red. Why the hell did everybody think I'm just a kid?  
Charlie arrived with his goofy smile and immediately met with Shannon's anger.  
„You're going, aren't you?"  
„Yeah, are you?"  
„Yup." Was she doing this just to piss Boone as he said? Or she wanted to prove she can actually do something? I was there for the same reason honestly...  
„Yeah, I'm definitely going."  
„Look, everybody can come, but we're leaving now."  
„You couldn't tell from that but she's actually really nice."  
„I'm Kate, by the way. You're Cass, right?"

So the group of six - me, Boone with Shannon, Charlie, Kate and Sayid – set off. We were mostly quiet, Shannon with Boone here and there biting each other, until the guy who attacked Sayid decided to join us.  
„You decided to join us." I found my place in between Kate and Sayid. Both of them were making me feel safe and I knew my middle east best friend would make sure I wasn't left behind somewhere along the way.  
„I'm a complex guy, sweetheart." Oh the tension he made the second he talked! I could feel Sayid's urge to break his nose and Kate's regrets of actually saying something to him.

And so we hiked, higher and higher. We climbed without protection but making sure everyone was safe. We were waiting for each other, stronger ones helping others. I had to be lifted a couple of times as I was too small to reach roots to get myself up. I did my best not to looked down because I knew, the moment I would do it, I would fall and die. My heart was beating real fast and my fingers were shaking.  
„You okay, Teeny?" The annoying guy, Sawyer, asked me, giving me my first nickname.  
„Yeah. Thank you." I whispered, catching my breath, then hurrying back to Sayid and Kate. I was trying hard to ignore the anxiety rising inside my body.  
Soon after we didn't have to climb anymore as we found ourselves on flat ground covered with tall palms and high grass.  
„OK, wide open space. Check the radio, see if we're good." Sawyer said from behind.  
„It won't work. Lots of trees." I replied, not even turning around. I just continued on walking.  
„We're not gonna have reception."  
„Just try it." Why was he that way? Didn't he realize he's too bossy and annoying?  
„I don't wanna waste batteries."  
„I'm not asking you to keep it on all day."  
„We're still blocked by the mountain." I gently touched Sayid's arm, just to let him know to stay calm but he was still very irritated from what happened earlier. I didn't blame him, I'd be too.  
„Just check the damn radio!" Sawyer yelled and the hell broke loose.  
„If I just check, we might not have any juice left when we get to-" A loud noise interrupted Sayid's fury, making us all go completely silent and shocked. Something was coming.  
„Oh my god..." Shannon was terrified. We were all terrified.  
„What the hell's that?"  
„Something's coming." Kate whispered and Sayid pushed me behind him, shielding me from whatever was out there.  
„It's coming towards us I think." No really, Charlie?  
„Come on, let's move."  
„I shouldn't have come on this hike!" Shannon screamed as we all started to run. Almost everyone, Sawyer stayed behind, standing still.  
„Sawyer!" Kate wanted to turn around but Sayid didn't let her.  
„Let him go!" And so we continued to run. My luck was gone by that time and I tripped and fell on my face.  
„Cass, get up!" Someone yelled but a gunshot convinced me to stay down. I just turned around, breathing heavily, staring to the direction we all heard it from. I didn't count how many shots were fired but after that the animal sound or whatever it was, was gone.  
„What the..." I said quietly. The group headed back, Sayid helping me back on my feet.  
Sawyer was calmly standing there, a gun in his hand and in front of him was a huge ball of white hairs.  
„That's...that's a big bear." Yeah. Very, very big bear.  
„You guys think that's what killed the pilot?"  
„No. That's a tiny, teeny version compared to that." I turned to Charlie, completely confused. _Something_ killed the pilot?  
Kate walked closer to the animal who was probably still kinda alive as very deep growling could still be heard.  
„Guys, this isn't just a bear...it's a polar bear." My brain was able to produce just one thought, one question only. What?  
And so our investigation began. Nobody was able to process the fact that we came across a freaking polar bear on a deserted Island, in a jungle.  
„That can't be a polar bear..."  
„It's a polar bear."  
„Wait a minute. Polar bears don't live in the jungle."  
„Spot-on."  
„Polar bear don't live this far south."  
„This one does."  
„Did. It did." I looked at Sawyer. He was very pleased with his actions.  
„Where did that come from?" Kate asked. For a second I thought she meant the bear but then it came to me.  
„Probably Bear Village. How the hell do I know?"  
„Not the bear, the gun." We fell quiet again, waiting for his answer. I was a little bit scared of him. Not because he was tall and strong and could kill me in a matter of seconds, but because of the gun. I was scared of it because it was in his hands and I didn't trust him. No one did.  
„I took it from one of the bodies."  
„One of the bodies?"  
„Yeah, one of the bodies."  
„People don't carry guns on planes."  
„They do if they're a U.S. marshal, sweetcheeks. There was one on the plane."  
„What?" I breathed out. So we had a marshal on board? With a gun? And now he has it?  
„How do you know that?"  
„I saw a guy lying in there with an ankle holster, so I took the gun, thought it might come in handy. Guess what, I just shot a bear!"  
„So why do you think he's a marshal?" Was it just me or Kate was a little bit...off?  
„Because he had a clip on badge. I took that too, thought it was cool." It definitely wasn't cool if it belonged to a freaking dead man.  
„I know who you are." Sayid said quietly and we all looked at him.  
„You're the prisoner."  
„I'm the what?"  
„You found a gun on a U.S. marshal? Yes, I believe you did. You knew where it was because he was bringing you back to States. Those handcuffs were on you. That's how you knew there was a gun."  
„Piss off!"  
„That's who you are you son of a bitch."  
„You're as suspicious to me as I am of you."  
„But you're the prisoner."  
„Oh fine! I'm the criminal. You're the terrorist. We can all play a part. Who do you wanna be?" He turned to me and Shannon and as soon as he did, Kate took the gun out of his pants, pointing it at him. I backed off, hiding behind Sayid. It was rude to use him as a shield but at first I didn't realize I was doing that.  
„Does anybody know how to use a gun?"  
„I think you just pull the trigger." I couldn't help myself but grin slightly.  
„Don't use the gun."  
„I want to take it apart."  
„There's a button on the grip. Push that, it will eject the magazine. There's still a round in the chamber. Hold the grip, pull the top of the gun." I looked at my best friend. So he knew how to use a gun, how to fix things, how to fight. I really started to wonder.  
Kate picked up all those parts of the gun, handing them to Sayid, the empty gun to Sawyer. He pulled her closer, smirking.  
„I know your type."  
„I'm not so sure."  
„Yeah, I've been with girls like you." Oh how disgusting he made me feel, his grins and stupid comments, it all was just ugly and awful.  
„Not girls exactly like me." She pulled away from him, walking away from our little expedition group.  
I followed her, my instincts told me to. She looked incredibly sad and I wanted to help.  
„Kate? Are you okay?" She gave me this appreciating look, smiling down at me softly.  
„Yeah." I reciprocate her a smile, slightly squeezing her shoulder. She didn't look as sad as before, but I still didn't want to inquire details as I knew it might be too painful to talk about.  
„We should keep going." Sayid looked at both of us and soon we were on our way up again.

„I know we're on a deserted island and everything but... this is beautiful." I was far in the back, occasionally stopping for a moment to just enjoy the view. I looked up if there was actually anyone who heard me and to my surprise, Sayid was not too far from me.  
„It is beautiful. Now come on, Cassie." He waited for me and we continued to walk together. We didn't really talk as we were concentrating on breathing and the sun slowly frying our backs.  
A few minutes after he pulled out of his backpack the transceiver, unwrapping it from a blue fabric.  
„Do you think it's gonna work?" I asked him but before he could answer, Sawyer in the front turned around.  
„Oh now's good time to check the radio. Not before, but now."  
„I think he understands that thing more than you do, Sawyer." I mumbled and stopped to watch my friend working.  
„We're higher." Sayid said, turning the complicated walkie talkie on.  
„Yes, we are."  
„Bar..." I shot my head to the voice. Sayid was looking at the transceiver rather pleased.  
„Hey! We've got a bar!" And immediately everybody sprinted back down to us, listening to the usual walkie talkie noise.  
„Mayday, mayday!" He tried but it did this high loud sound, like feedback.  
„What is that?" Kate asked, we all thinking the same thing.  
„Feedback."  
„Feedback from what, what would do that?"  
„I don't know."  
„I'll tell you what. This guy not fixing the radio. This thing doesn't even work."  
„Be quiet." I hissed at Sawyer, leaving him with a very surprised look and Charlie gave me a thumbs up.  
„No. No, no, no, no, it's not broken." Sayid was still trying to pick up the feedback, playing with all those buttons and thingies. He was certain he was going to make it work.  
„We can't transmit, because something else is already transmitting."  
„Transmitting from where?"  
„What?" As far as we knew, the Island was deserted. Full of animals and birds and lizard and stuff but no people beside us. And maybe the rest of the plane somewhere.  
„Somewhere close, the signal is strong."  
„Somewhere close? You mean on the Island? That's great!"  
„Maybe it's other survivors."  
„From our plane? How would they..."  
„What kind of transmission it is?"  
„Satphone? Maybe a radio signal?"  
„Can we listen to it?"  
„Let me get the frequency, hold on." We were eager to hear the transmitting, we all stared at the transceiver, listening to its sounds.  
„There's no transmission."  
„Shut up." Shut up became our new favourite two-word to say when Sawyer was being a douche and I grinned at Kate for it.  
„The rescue party, it has to be!"  
Everybody completely freaked out of happiness as soon as Sayid got the clear voice of the transmission, „That's French! I've never been so happy to hear the French!"  
„I never took French. What is she saying?" I listened to it, focusing on every word she said. I did understand, although it was some time since I last spoke or heard French.  
„Does anybody speak French?" And before I could say a word, Boone shoot up.  
„She does."  
„No I don't. What?" Shannon looked very startled.  
„What are you talking about, you spent a year in Paris!"  
„Drinking, not studying!" Oh well...  
„Ilteration 7-2-9-4-5-3-1." The woman's voice was interrupted by what sounded like a computer voice, making us all go silent instantly.  
„Okay, what's that?"  
„Oh no no no no no."  
„What no?"  
„The batteries are dying!"  
„How much time do we have?"  
„Not much."  
While Shannon was freaking out and Boone pushing her to listen to the walkie talkie, Sawyer was getting annoyed.  
„Do you speak French, because that would be nice."  
The weird voice appeared again but this time saying different number than before.  
„The voice is weird, what is that?"  
„Come on, Shannon, you can do it." We all tried to encourage the girl to at least listen to it before the transceiver died. Until she finally tried it.  
„"Il est dehors. il est dehors et..." Said the voice and with Shannon we looked at each other. I nodded and smiled, supporting and believing in her.  
„It's...It's repeating," The message continued, my mind automatically translating to English as if I spoke by the foreign language on daily basis.  
„She's right." Sayid noticed the loop too,  
„What?"  
„It's a loop. _"Iteration_ ", it's repeating the same message. It's a counter, the next number will end 5-3-3." And it really did. Once the numbers were said, the message began again.  
„Does anyone know what the hell he's talking about?"  
„It's a running count of the number of times the message has repeated! It's roughly 30 seconds long so...how long..." I looked at Sayid again. If he was able to count this just inside his head, I admired him even more than before. That man was really smart.  
„Don't forget to carry the one, cheek." Sawyer said to Shannon and I knew by the expression on her face, she wanted to cry and run away. The pressure was on her. I could help but...  
„She's saying... "please"...she's saying: "please, help me. Please, come get me."  
„Or she's not! She doesn't even speak French!" I stepped on Sawyer's foot as hard as I only could for saying that, pissing everybody, especially Kate, off.  
„Let her listen!"  
„Shut up man!"  
„Guys, the battery. The battery." Charlie was the only one who actually stayed calmed and I wanted to know his secret. Shannon put the transceiver closer to her ear so she could hear the lady while the others were going mad.  
„I'm alone now. I'm…on the island alone. Please, someone come. The others, they're … they're dead. I-it killed them. I-it killed them all." The transceiver died. We stood there almost speechless.  
„That was good."  
„Sixteen years." We all stared at Sayid.  
„What?"  
„Sixteen years...and five months. That's the count." I was amazed.  
„What are you talking about?"  
„The iterations. It's a distress call. A plea for help, a mayday. If the counter's right...it's been playing over and over...for sixteen years." Silence fell upon us again. My eyes were opened widely, staring at Sayid, not believing to what was happening. It was like a bad dream, the one where you can't wake up and you face more and more horrible plot twists. The only problem was that this wasn't a dream.  
„Someone else was stranded here?"  
„Maybe they came for them..."  
„If someone came, why is it still playing?" Good question. I lifted my eyes, scanning the hills around us, the spinney and the sea, hoping to see...something. I didn't even know what I wanted to see. Maybe an explanation, an answer hovering in the air like a bird's feather.  
„Guys...where are we?"


End file.
